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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22672930">The Shadow of Glass [Five Months - Month I]</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chasing_Gumdrops/pseuds/Chasing_Gumdrops'>Chasing_Gumdrops</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Until the Solstice [Five Months Rebooted] [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Haikyuu!!</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Angst and Feels, Car Accidents, Child Abuse, Divorce, Domestic Violence, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Sexual Assault, M/M, Underage Drinking, Verbal Abuse</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-02-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-04-29 07:40:28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,844</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22672930</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chasing_Gumdrops/pseuds/Chasing_Gumdrops</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Five months left to the end of school, Hinata's parents get a divorce. Heartbroken, he  struggles to maintain his old life as his mother succumbs to drinking and his father moves away. Tension and alienation from Kageyama, who stumbles through his own trauma, only serves to make matters worse. </p>
<p>Isolated and terrified, will the Freak Duo find each other before the semester ends? Or will they be forced to part ways, their shattered friendship fading into a honeyed memory?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Hinata Shouyou &amp; Kageyama Tobio, Hinata Shouyou/Kageyama Tobio, Kageyama Tobio &amp; Oikawa Tooru</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Until the Solstice [Five Months Rebooted] [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1631062</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>38</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Prologue; Month 1. Chapter 1. Hinata.</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">


        <li>
            Inspired by

            <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/8675398">Five Months, Month I, Hinata Version</a> by <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chasing_Gumdrops/pseuds/Chasing_Gumdrops">Chasing_Gumdrops</a>.
        </li>

    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Month I: August.<br/>Month II: September.<br/>Month III: October.<br/>Month IV: November.<br/>Month V: December.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h3>
  <span class="u"> Preface. Cautiously Dauntless.  </span>
</h3>
<p>Readers, </p>
<p>Long time no see!! Before we jump right into the work, I’d like to share some quick notes about why there’s a new version of Five Months, and what to expect from this new version. </p>
<p>Why there’s a new version:    </p><ul>
<li>The old version was hard to follow, despite being the author-- too many unnecessary details. </li>
<li>Writing two whole perspectives was holding me back. </li>
<li>The characters were extremely OC, basically my petty and whiny freshman self. Cringe.</li>
<li>The old ver.'s timeline/pacing were garbage.  </li>
</ul>
<p>What to expect from the new version: </p><ul>
<li>It’s a lot simpler, and much more subtle. </li>
<li>This work better accounts for H &amp; K’s much longer relationship. Warning, there ARE made up/part of this fanfic things that happened <em>before</em> 5M starts, which are part of the deets I mentioned. (more like a framed narrative, if anyone knows what that means-- <em>The Great Gatsby</em> might ring a bell.)  </li>
<li>This version is also only one work. There aren’t two. The chapters generally alternate between perspectives. </li>
</ul>
<p>I’m excited to see where this ends up. As Robert Frost said, “I have never started a poem yet whose end I knew. Writing a poem is discovering.” </p>
<p>Without further ado, let’s get started.  </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Best, </p>
<p>Cautiously Dauntless</p>
<p>January 2020</p>
<p><br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
</p><h3>
  <span class="u"> Month 1. Chapter 1. Hinata.  </span>
</h3>
<p> </p>
<p>“Kageyama. Can I stay over tonight?”</p>
<p>“It’s Thursday, not Friday, dumbass,” Kageyama locked the doors to the Karasuno Gymnasium, the other members of the team already long gone. “It’s not sleepover day yet. But yeah, you can come over tomorrow.”</p>
<p>I waited, unsure of how to phrase things, so I ended up standing around like a dumb idiot as I tried to find the courage to speak. But I wasn’t fast enough. </p>
<p>The clueless Kageyama turned to me now, jamming the keys into his pocket and adjusting his sports bag on his shoulder. Nothing like being Team Captain. “Mmm? What are you waiting for? Go get your bike, I don’t want to miss the last bus because of your dumb ass.”</p>
<p>“Would you mind if it was tonight? Would your family mind? Please. I might need somewhere to stay. I… can’t go home tonight.”</p>
<p>“Hinata? What do you mean? Don’t tell me your bike’s broken. Dumbass, how does your bike break <em> after </em> you’ve already used it to come to school?” Kageyama made a face. “I don’t care if you pay me, I’m not helping you fix it.”</p>
<p>I seized the opportunity to lie and push the truth away. He’d know soon, but I just couldn’t tell anyone yet. My chest and throat closed too quickly. Just half an hour. And then the truth would be known. Please. “Bah. You know you’d help me fix it even if I didn’t pay you. More than two days in a row of sleeping at your place and you’d do anything to kick me out! Checkmate.”</p>
<p>“Feh,” he pulled out his phone. “Alright, you can stay over tonight. I’ll just let my parents know. Oh, we’ll be home alone apparently. My dad’s on a business trip and my mom said that she’s working late tonight because she wants a few free hours tomorrow. You good with that?”</p>
<p>I looked up from my toes. “Uh? Yeah. Sure, um yeah. Works great...”</p>
<p>He gave me a suspicious eye. </p>
<p><br/>
<br/>
<br/>
</p>
<p>“Do you want to watch some volleyball matches?” Kageyama asked without even needing to look up, already knowing the answer. </p>
<p>Or at least, the answer I would have given under any other circumstances. </p>
<p>“Actually… there’s something I need to tell you. Before we watch anything.”</p>
<p>“Hah? Oh, okay. Did poor little Hinata stub his itty bitty toe on an itty bitty table and feel the need to cry about it?” He didn’t look up from his laptop, already comfortably lounging on the couch and trying to find something obscure that we somehow hadn’t watched yet. </p>
<p>A watery laugh came from my lips. “Someone’s been with Tsukishima too much.”</p>
<p>“I’m learning the trade of being a Salt-Powered Robot. It’s more difficult than genuinely appreciating that garbage can Oikawa.”</p>
<p>“I didn’t know you were <em> that </em> salty about your ex.”</p>
<p>“He’s <em> not </em> my ex!”</p>
<p>“C’mon, you talk about him like he is.”</p>
<p>“<em> Shut up </em> and tell me what’s going on.” </p>
<p>The smile instantly melted off my face. I felt the present become blurrier, but not in a I’m-on-cocaine-look-at-me way, just a jerk of distance. A stab of isolation. Just the rug being pulled out from under me. </p>
<p>In my dazed and faraway body, I used hands that don’t feel like my own to pull the lid of the laptop down on top of Kageyama’s fingertips. I saw the little logo on the back of the computer go dark, and I still stared at it long after even though there was nothing to look at. Meanwhile Kageyama himself looked up, staring into my eyes, as confused as I would be if I were him. But I knew what was going on. </p>
<p>My mouth formed empty syllables as I weakly took a seat next to him, my lips forming shapes and trying to decide how to say this best. Because there was no good way to say this. No good way at all. Goddammit. </p>
<p>How do I--?</p>
<p>Do I just--?</p>
<p>Flat out??</p>
<p><em> Yeah. Okay, I guess </em>. It’s not like there was any other way to put it. </p>
<p>“My bike’s not broken, actually,” I ended up saying first, completely going off topic, and out of the corner of my eye I saw his brow furrowed in confusion and exasperation. But my serious demeanor kept him quiet. Kept him still. I couldn’t tell if I liked it, but there it was. “There’s something else I need to say. Why I didn’t want to go home tonight, why I… why I <em> can’t </em>.”</p>
<p>“Yeah?” His face turned serious too, for once reading the mood. </p>
<p>“My parents got a divorce.”</p>
<p>So there, it’s out there, the first time I told anyone. I never cried in front of anyone, ever, but without warning tears wrenched at my eyes and begin to flow. There was more to say, there was everything to say, but somehow there wasn’t. That five word truth was everything in the world right now, too much to hold, but the only thing I could hold. </p>
<p>Then there were five words more. </p>
<p>“My dad left this morning.”</p>
<p>I pictured my house. The hallway. My parent’s room. My father’s smile. Everything that I’d remember for the rest of my life, but physically would still be losing. It burned, the way it was so fresh in my mind despite being no more than ash in the wind: already gone. </p>
<p>Gone, gone, gone. Lost, lost, lost. Would I ever see him again? Would he care enough to see me again? It’s not like I had control. Or a choice. </p>
<p>“Fuck,” Kageyama muttered, grabbing a tissue box from a nearby coffee table. “Here. I’m sorry, Hinata.” </p>
<p>“I don’t want to go home,” I cursed through a tissue as I blow my nose, disgusted by the tears and hating that there was nothing I could do about them. “I don’t want to go.”</p>
<p>“Um, well, you don’t have to. You’re staying here tonight, aren’t you,” he turned around for a brief moment, a surprised but pitying look in his eyes. </p>
<p>“Yeah. Thanks,” I choked out. “I just… I don’t want my dad- I don’t want my dad to go...”</p>
<p>And so I sat and cried, until there was nothing left to even drip from my eyes. Until it stung to blink, until it stung to see, until it stung to think about anything at all, until I’d had enough of the tissues littered about the room. I was never one to collapse, never one to hide and back down in the face of danger, but there I was now. There I was, curled up on Kageyama’s couch, with his uncertainty feeding into mine, until I’d had too much. Until I choked on my own grief. Until I was empty. Until I fell asleep.</p>
<p>We didn’t watch any volleyball matches that night. </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Month 1. Chapter 2. Kageyama</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>A diary entry from Kageyama.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h3>
  <span class="u"> Month 1. Chapter 2. Kageyama.  </span>
</h3>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>Aug. 7th.  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>Nishinoya and Ennoshita are happy that I’m actually using this journal they gave me. Ennoshita insisted that it’s a better coping mechanism than before, but what happened before wasn’t really coping, it was just fun. Obviously I don’t use this thing much, but since I saw them the other day I decided I’d take another stab at it.  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em> Volleyball is going okay, I’m trying to work on better syncing up with Kimura and Tagami. It’s the same problem that I mentioned last month.  </em>
</p>
<p><em> I haven’t seen “21” or “22” a whole lot since June, which is probably a good thing. Oikawa is being surprisingly protective; he said that he’s not going to let them anywhere near me for the time being. I don’t think it’s </em> <em> that </em> <em> bad, but if I even hate good stuff like high fives and locker rooms now, that probably doesn’t look too good.  </em></p>
<p>
  <em> Yesterday Hinata and I hung out for basically the first time since June. It started out okay, but then Hinata mentioned that his parents got a divorce and then proceeded to absolutely fall apart. I’m not surprised, given his accounts of his parents’ arguing back in April or May. When we stopped talking a couple months ago, everything was so bad that even I knew it wasn’t sustainable. I hope this all turns out okay-- it’s not like there’s a whole lot I can do to help.  </em>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Month 1. Chapter 3. Hinata.</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h3>
<span>Month 1. Chapter 3. Hinata.</span>
</h3>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>One week later and a couple kilograms lighter, I was at morning practice like normal.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Senpai, did you eat this morning?" Kimura, a second year, asked through the net after blocking my spike. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Eh? Why should you care?" </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Your spike was weak." </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Hey! I was just warming up," I laughed and grinned, jumping on my toes and leaning forward. "I'll kick your ass, just watch."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"</span>
  <em>
    <span>Senpai</span>
  </em>
  <span>, you get weaker when you haven't eaten."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Kageyama materialized at my side. "Idiot! You have to eat, or Ouran High will cream us on Saturday."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Uwah! Scaryama! I just wasn't hungry today!"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"If you don't eat I'll grab you by your spiking arm and shove meat buns down your throat!" Kageyama roared. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"You would </span>
  <em>
    <span>not</span>
  </em>
  <span>!" </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Oh </span>
  <em>
    <span>yeah</span>
  </em>
  <span>?" He launched a barrage of playful punches at me, which I dodged easily. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>A slightly vexed Ukai cut us off. "Oi! Get back to practicing, or I'll kick </span>
  <em>
    <span>everyone’s</span>
  </em>
  <span> ass!!"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Yessir!" We quickly dispersed, but Kimura called me back. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Senpai, don’t use not eating as a coping mechanism. It's not healthy." Wisps of a worried frown lingered on his face.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m not-- what? I dunno what you’re talking about,” I shook my head. I knew what he was getting at, of course, but no? Why would I ever do something like that? “Oi, I know I’m dumb, but I’m not dumb enough to starve myself to death ‘cuz of something irrelevant. Don’t worry.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He studied me. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“If you say so,” he looked away, and we trotted to opposite ends of the court. </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Will try to update soon but im also lazy af and have a lot of writer's block lol</p>
<p>alsooooo I'm not caught up on the anime or the manga so the pool of characters I'm drawing from really isn't that large im sorry</p></blockquote></div></div>
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